Radio frequency electrical connectors are used in a wide variety of applications. Such connectors are used in mobile telephones, global positioning systems and the like. Basically, such a connector is a microwave connector.
One example of such connectors is an electrical switching connector used in a transceiver of such devices which requires an antenna, such as a mobile telephone. The transceiver may be normally connected to an internal antenna, and switching terminals are provided for connecting the unit to an external antenna. The switching terminals are normally closed, and a terminal from a coaxial cable opens the normally closed terminals to disconnect the transceiver from the internal antenna and connect the transceiver to the external antenna. With the system being a radio frequency system, ground terminals also are employed in conjunction with the switching terminals.
In designing electrical connectors of the type described above, an ideal connector would be "transparent". In other words, the system would function as if circuitry ran through the interconnection and there would be no affect on the system whatsoever. However, such an ideal connector is impractical or impossible, and continuous efforts are made to develop an electrical connector which has as little affect on the system as possible.
Impedance and inductance control are concerns in designing an ideal connector. In other words, an ideal connector would have little or no affect on the interconnection system regarding these characteristics. This is particularly true in radio frequency connectors as described above. However, since the ideal connector is impractical or impossible, the invention herein is directed to a method for tuning the impedance of an electrical connector, such as an electrical switching connector. It should be understood that the concepts of the invention as disclosed and claimed herein are not limited to radio frequency connectors in that the invention has a wide range of advantageous applications.